Audiobus: Use your music apps together.

What is Audiobus?Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.

Download on the App Store

Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

iWAVESTATION is amazing

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Comments

  • @MonzoPro said:
    Still on my list this one, just can’t. Pull. The trigger.

    This is me. I own most of the Korg synths - all but iWavestation, iDS-10 & the iElectribes - but I just can't seem to get excited about this. Wavetable synthesis hasn't grabbed me yet, I guess.

    I'm interested though - next $15 bucks I have laying around, maybe.....

  • @PhilW said:
    I think people associate it with a certain wavesequencing sound but yes, it is a lot more versalite than that.

    Sounds like that’s what has happened with it. To some people, many of the presets sound too much like something they don’t particularly enjoy. And few people really create their own patches with it.

    That app is what brought me to this forum in the first place, and several comments were about the fact that it sounds too much like the 1990s. Thing is, a lot of other synths sound a lot like the 1970s or 1980s and, typically, people don’t complain about that. It’s as though the nostalgia/retro thing didn’t reach the 1990s for most people in this scene.
    And people may laugh but hearing people on the Korg podcast play a few notes with iWavestation before it was released, it gave me a pretty warm feeling remembering music from the likes of Peter Gabriel. Those were from factory presets, and they suit me fine. But there’s also quite a bit of depth to the app once you start importing other patches or creating your own. As others have said, it’s actually not too complicated to create your own patches.
    My strategy so far has mostly been to tweak presets to make them a bit more expressive. Works quite well, especially in Gadget (which makes MIDI Learn easier to use than the standalone app). Recently bought Korg Gadget for Mac and Milpitas is a relatively big part of the attraction, for me. (Though my exploration has mostly led me to other synths, including Montpelier and Lisbon, having not bought them on iOS.)

    My main issue with that app, though, is that it’s hard to find patches. iM1 has a search feature, which is quite neat.

    Oh, and by the way, did other people try the vector synth features in SynthMaster? There are vector patches which work in SynthMaster Player. (Say, “AR Ballad Arp TP”.) The overall feature is quite a bit different from the Wavestation (and, presumably, Prophet VS) approach. But it sounds like it might be possible to create some WS-like patches with a bit of work through the diverse modulation sources. For instance, using the “glide sequencers” to modulate the two vector axes could make for something akin to the WS wave sequences. Have yet to succeed in using custom patches in SynthMaster Player but it does sound like it should be possible to have fun with those. (Since SynthMaster supports MPE and microtonality, it could be the basis for some rather novel musicking.)

    Started exploring SynthMaster a bit more, recently. Especially now that it has proper support for wavetables. Don’t think that works in the iOS SM Player, yet, but (according to @realdavidai in this thread) KV331 Audio teased that they’d bring a wavetable synth to iOS around NAMM time. Could make for something fun.

    At any rate, glad iWavestation is getting some love. Its affordances are quite different from the typical virtual analog synth, and that can be nice to have in an iOS musicker’s overall setup.

  • @Enkerli said:

    @PhilW said:
    I think people associate it with a certain wavesequencing sound but yes, it is a lot more versalite than that.

    Sounds like that’s what has happened with it. To some people, many of the presets sound too much like something they don’t particularly enjoy. And few people really create their own patches with it.

    That app is what brought me to this forum in the first place, and several comments were about the fact that it sounds too much like the 1990s. Thing is, a lot of other synths sound a lot like the 1970s or 1980s and, typically, people don’t complain about that. It’s as though the nostalgia/retro thing didn’t reach the 1990s for most people in this scene.
    And people may laugh but hearing people on the Korg podcast play a few notes with iWavestation before it was released, it gave me a pretty warm feeling remembering music from the likes of Peter Gabriel. Those were from factory presets, and they suit me fine. But there’s also quite a bit of depth to the app once you start importing other patches or creating your own. As others have said, it’s actually not too complicated to create your own patches.
    My strategy so far has mostly been to tweak presets to make them a bit more expressive. Works quite well, especially in Gadget (which makes MIDI Learn easier to use than the standalone app). Recently bought Korg Gadget for Mac and Milpitas is a relatively big part of the attraction, for me. (Though my exploration has mostly led me to other synths, including Montpelier and Lisbon, having not bought them on iOS.)

    My main issue with that app, though, is that it’s hard to find patches. iM1 has a search feature, which is quite neat.

    Oh, and by the way, did other people try the vector synth features in SynthMaster? There are vector patches which work in SynthMaster Player. (Say, “AR Ballad Arp TP”.) The overall feature is quite a bit different from the Wavestation (and, presumably, Prophet VS) approach. But it sounds like it might be possible to create some WS-like patches with a bit of work through the diverse modulation sources. For instance, using the “glide sequencers” to modulate the two vector axes could make for something akin to the WS wave sequences. Have yet to succeed in using custom patches in SynthMaster Player but it does sound like it should be possible to have fun with those. (Since SynthMaster supports MPE and microtonality, it could be the basis for some rather novel musicking.)

    Started exploring SynthMaster a bit more, recently. Especially now that it has proper support for wavetables. Don’t think that works in the iOS SM Player, yet, but (according to @realdavidai in this thread) KV331 Audio teased that they’d bring a wavetable synth to iOS around NAMM time. Could make for something fun.

    At any rate, glad iWavestation is getting some love. Its affordances are quite different from the typical virtual analog synth, and that can be nice to have in an iOS musicker’s overall setup.

    Lots of good rumination there. I do see what @MonzoPro means about the smarmy Phil C. shadow from that period, but I think you can as easily find the inner Talking Heads and beyond with a little fiddling...

  • Agree, @JohnnyGoodyear. I'm getting stuff that reminds me of the Heads or Tom Tom Club.

  • @dvlmusic said:

    @MonzoPro said:
    Still on my list this one, just can’t. Pull. The trigger.

    This is me. I own most of the Korg synths - all but iWavestation, iDS-10 & the iElectribes - but I just can't seem to get excited about this. Wavetable synthesis hasn't grabbed me yet, I guess.

    I'm interested though - next $15 bucks I have laying around, maybe.....

    I was hesitant at first because I thought it just sounded like a beefed up im1 (don't own im1 - never heard anything I like come from it yet) - but I love it more than I thought I would and I think I use at least 1 or 2 instances of it on every Gadget track I make now. Mostly for pads, textures, percussion/drums, stabs, but sometimes even leads or bass. And while I've only ever spent an hour or two at most trying to program my own patches - it seemed fairly easy enough to get something cool out of it

  • @david_2017 said:
    I got it. Incredible sound. It’s actually quite easy to edit the random created presets. But i cannot think of creating a patch from scratch. its insanely deep and mysterious this beast :)

    Anyways thanks to all recommending and pointing to it. I am glad I bought it while on sale ;)

    @david_2017 said:
    I got it. Incredible sound. It’s actually quite easy to edit the random created presets. But i cannot think of creating a patch from scratch. its insanely deep and mysterious this beast :)

    Anyways thanks to all recommending and pointing to it. I am glad I bought it while on sale ;)

    David I am so glad that you took the plunge and got it! I hope you will enjoy it and lose many hours as I have with it. Congrats!

  • @david_2017 said:
    My fear is that this machine is the most complex piece of musical software ever created. It looks good and sounds amazing but it also looks unbelievable complicated

    It’s not too bad... I found this dude’s video helpful

  • edited December 2017
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • @Enkerli said:

    @PhilW said:
    I think people associate it with a certain wavesequencing sound but yes, it is a lot more versalite than that.

    Sounds like that’s what has happened with it. To some people, many of the presets sound too much like something they don’t particularly enjoy. And few people really create their own patches with it.

    That app is what brought me to this forum in the first place, and several comments were about the fact that it sounds too much like the 1990s. Thing is, a lot of other synths sound a lot like the 1970s or 1980s and, typically, people don’t complain about that. It’s as though the nostalgia/retro thing didn’t reach the 1990s for most people in this scene.
    And people may laugh but hearing people on the Korg podcast play a few notes with iWavestation before it was released, it gave me a pretty warm feeling remembering music from the likes of Peter Gabriel. Those were from factory presets, and they suit me fine. But there’s also quite a bit of depth to the app once you start importing other patches or creating your own. As others have said, it’s actually not too complicated to create your own patches.
    My strategy so far has mostly been to tweak presets to make them a bit more expressive. Works quite well, especially in Gadget (which makes MIDI Learn easier to use than the standalone app). Recently bought Korg Gadget for Mac and Milpitas is a relatively big part of the attraction, for me. (Though my exploration has mostly led me to other synths, including Montpelier and Lisbon, having not bought them on iOS.)

    My main issue with that app, though, is that it’s hard to find patches. iM1 has a search feature, which is quite neat.

    Oh, and by the way, did other people try the vector synth features in SynthMaster? There are vector patches which work in SynthMaster Player. (Say, “AR Ballad Arp TP”.) The overall feature is quite a bit different from the Wavestation (and, presumably, Prophet VS) approach. But it sounds like it might be possible to create some WS-like patches with a bit of work through the diverse modulation sources. For instance, using the “glide sequencers” to modulate the two vector axes could make for something akin to the WS wave sequences. Have yet to succeed in using custom patches in SynthMaster Player but it does sound like it should be possible to have fun with those. (Since SynthMaster supports MPE and microtonality, it could be the basis for some rather novel musicking.)

    Started exploring SynthMaster a bit more, recently. Especially now that it has proper support for wavetables. Don’t think that works in the iOS SM Player, yet, but (according to @realdavidai in this thread) KV331 Audio teased that they’d bring a wavetable synth to iOS around NAMM time. Could make for something fun.

    At any rate, glad iWavestation is getting some love. Its affordances are quite different from the typical virtual analog synth, and that can be nice to have in an iOS musicker’s overall setup.

    It’s always interesting to see the retro nostalgia trends come and go. In ‘indie rock/pop’ the 90s has definitely taken hold. But the 80s love started way back around 2003 and has continued to this day, mostly now based on the instrumental tracks of film scores of the time. I’m curious but not really interested to see if the 90s takes hold to that degree with upcoming music, or if there’s just something in the psychology of my generation that couldn’t let go of that 80s feel.

  • Just bought it because of this thread!

  • I recommend finding some sysex patches and adding them to User bank.
    There are some great banks available online.

  • edited December 2017
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • @StudioES said:

    @Jes said:
    I recommend finding some sysex patches and adding them to User bank.
    There are some great banks available online.

    Good idea!

    http://www.danphillips.com/wavestation/ws_sysex.htm

    Too bad, The Wavestation Patch Archive is long gone. I have the zip from 2004 though (2MB). Could put it on DropBox. Off the top of my head, writing them will overwrite what's in RAM BANK 1, but I could be wrong, it's been years.

    It depends on which bank they are originally set up to occupy. Usually it is Bank 1.
    In iWavestation these occupy User bank 1. Some may occupy User 2 or 3.
    It is possible to load banks to 1 and then save fave patches to User 2 or 3.

  • Congrats Rugged, I sincerely hope it blows your mind as it did mine. Have fun Nodelling around with it. It brings me real joy every time I spark her up!

  • I don't know if I'm wrong but what about this:

    You guys wish for iWavestastion LINK support. Gadget has it. Milpitas is implemented in Gadget and therefore should it be linked with LINK also,...?!

    iWS is constantly changing the BPM in the standalone back to 104.35 or something
    (wtf!? who needs 2 numbers after the comma? Anyone intentionally did a track on 125,83 BPM?)

    anyways it seems that when I use it in gadget the BPM is set to gadgets tempo.

  • It’s a shame that user samples can’t be imported into it, that would take wavestation to the next level

    Cannot understand why this doesn’t have link

    Despite some minor shortcomings, including lack of AUV3, my experiments with it seem to point to the fact that it goes beyond the 90s sound that a few of you are referring to and brings it to the present day.

    Dnb, glitch, minimal techno and ambient fodder can be had from this ..

    We need someone who can do video demos or tutorials who actually knows modern dance styles really

  • @david_2017 said:
    I don't know if I'm wrong but what about this:

    You guys wish for iWavestastion LINK support. Gadget has it. Milpitas is implemented in Gadget and therefore should it be linked with LINK also,...?!

    iWS is constantly changing the BPM in the standalone back to 104.35 or something
    (wtf!? who needs 2 numbers after the comma? Anyone intentionally did a track on 125,83 BPM?)

    anyways it seems that when I use it in gadget the BPM is set to gadgets tempo.

    Aye, captain. But I don't own Gadget and don't really see the need for it... The MIDI clock works good enough to sample some stuff into BM3. Pity, though. It'd be so much easier to use with Link.

  • Yeah would be nice.

    @Love3quency said:

    It’s a shame that user samples can’t be imported into it, that would take wavestation to the next level

    Cannot understand why this doesn’t have link

    Despite some minor shortcomings, including lack of AUV3, my experiments with it seem to point to the fact that it goes beyond the 90s sound that a few of you are referring to and brings it to the present day.

    Dnb, glitch, minimal techno and ambient fodder can be had from this ..

    We need someone who can do video demos or tutorials who actually knows modern dance styles really

  • Bear in mind that the original wavestation clocked the wave sequencer at a fixed 100bpm. The reason for this is that the original idea was that the waves would be sequenced through gently and softly, with grace and smoothness, as relatively gradual transitions. The whole idea of shortening the crossfades in the wave sequence was very late in the manufacturing process, at the point where some demo patches were being cooked up, and that’s where the whole rhythmic Instant Peter Gabriel sort of ethos comes about. It wasn’t intended to be used like that from a design point of view. I think if this technique had arisen earlier (while the hardware itself was still being designed), then yes, they’d have clocked the wave sequencer at a variable clock rate and no doubt made it midi-syncable also.

  • @Love3quency said:
    And somewhat overlooked and undervalued

    It can do totally out of the box things

    Certainly does what I need it to!

    What are using for reverb on this track.

  • @u0421793 said:
    Bear in mind that the original wavestation clocked the wave sequencer at a fixed 100bpm. The reason for this is that the original idea was that the waves would be sequenced through gently and softly, with grace and smoothness, as relatively gradual transitions. The whole idea of shortening the crossfades in the wave sequence was very late in the manufacturing process, at the point where some demo patches were being cooked up, and that’s where the whole rhythmic Instant Peter Gabriel sort of ethos comes about. It wasn’t intended to be used like that from a design point of view. I think if this technique had arisen earlier (while the hardware itself was still being designed), then yes, they’d have clocked the wave sequencer at a variable clock rate and no doubt made it midi-syncable also.

    Ok, now I feel stupid. /I move the gizmo and instead of squeaks I get fart noises, I now I think I know synthesis./

    Thank you @u0421793 for the wonderful history. I love hearing these type of stories. I have stayed away from this because it is Korg and Korg doesn't seem to play nice with the others. It also seems like it takes a lot of tinkering to get an average quality sound out of. I admit, I have Gadget and I know that a lot of folks around here love it but I must say, I never use it because I just don't find it expressive enough. I just feel I would get more bang for the buck out of something like say PPG WaveMapper.

    But what do I know ( synth reference from above )

  • @philowerx said:

    @Love3quency said:
    And somewhat overlooked and undervalued

    It can do totally out of the box things

    Certainly does what I need it to!

    What are using for reverb on this track.

    My own preset in the excellent aufx space

    Also used Italizer

    Combo of reverb and delay is essential for ambient

  • edited December 2017

    @Love3quency
    As is often the case, threads like these don’t encourage me to buy the app (because I’ve almost always bought it already). They encourage me instead to revisit something I’ve only skimmed over, played presets etc.

    Hearing your clip above made me think, yes okay something else (something cool) is here. Then I opened it up and actually tried some programming and the thing started making sense, oh man this thing is shit-hot and dead-sexy.

  • I dreamed of owning this keyboard for so long that when I saw Korg make it on IOS I was really floored! Anyone actually searched how much the hardware keyboard costed? Man! We are truly blessed generation to enjoy this on a tablet, simply amazing!

    I wanna learn how to add Wavestation SysEx data into it but I’m afraid to mess it up.

  • @Littlewoodg said:
    @Love3quency
    As is often the case, threads like these don’t encourage me to buy the app (because I’ve almost always bought it already). They encourage me instead to revisit something I’ve only skimmed over, played presets etc.

    Hearing your clip above made me think, yes okay something else (something cool) is here. Then I opened it up and actually tried some programming and the thing started making sense, oh man this thing is shit-hot and dead-sexy.

    Yes, I know that most of us already own the app.

    I was just sharing my excitement of it’s potential once I started to dive deeper into it.

    I think due to the constant influx of new synths that we pause on older ones and don’t investigate them fully.

    Presets seem to be popular on here, more so than creating ones own.. it’s like the fast food market but for music.

    “I wanna make a track fast”

    Lol

    I think once we realise the deeper potential of the apps we already have, then we will be able to bring iOS music to a wider audience

    Because iOS apps are now fully able pro tools...

  • edited December 2017

    @Love3quency said:

    @Littlewoodg said:
    @Love3quency
    As is often the case, threads like these don’t encourage me to buy the app (because I’ve almost always bought it already). They encourage me instead to revisit something I’ve only skimmed over, played presets etc.

    Hearing your clip above made me think, yes okay something else (something cool) is here. Then I opened it up and actually tried some programming and the thing started making sense, oh man this thing is shit-hot and dead-sexy.

    Yes, I know that most of us already own the app.

    I was just sharing my excitement of it’s potential once I started to dive deeper into it.

    I think due to the constant influx of new synths that we pause on older ones and don’t investigate them fully.

    Presets seem to be popular on here, more so than creating ones own.. it’s like the fast food market but for music.

    “I wanna make a track fast”

    Lol

    I think once we realise the deeper potential of the apps we already have, then we will be able to bring iOS music to a wider audience

    Because iOS apps are now fully able pro tools...

    I appreciate you getting the thread going, it’s good to discover/rediscover this beauty/beasty

  • @Ivan_Dj said:

    @nothumanatall said:
    I also have this but don’t know how to actually use it. I just use the presets from time to time and I think they sound really good but I want to learn that wave and sequence thing. Where should I look at?

    Here's the manual, in case you didn't see it before:
    https://www.korguser.net/iwavestation/manual/KORG_iWAVESTATION_OM_E.pdf

    Thank you! Let's hope I'll read and understand it all :smiley:

  • edited December 2017

    Anyone using a knobby midi controller with iWavestation? If so, what are the important knobs to map? There's a lot of pages, to flip through, when you're editing a sound.

    Edit: shoot, I'm spoiled with apps with good midi implementation, here it looks like you can only map a few things to midi- some destination called midi controller 1 & 2, and joystick X & Y. Bummer. I wanted to be able to get to the mixer, to turn layers on and off, change volumes, and be able change the effects mix, etc.

    I did find a thing in the manual, on page 48, regarding minimal MIDI control of the effects section. You have the option, in the list of modulators that control the mix for the effects, of using CC#4, like an expression pedal, or CC#12, like a footswitch for effects on/bypass.

  • Hey Not human and if we don’t, we do have each other to figure it out and ask questions. I consider myself a noob of this wondrous beast with still so much too learn. That’s what’s so fab about this AB forum, we can help each other out in order to learn this thang! Cheers to all of you who took the plunge in getting it and are committed to learning this awesome app!

  • JesJes
    edited December 2017

    @MusicMan4Christ said:
    I dreamed of owning this keyboard for so long that when I saw Korg make it on IOS I was really floored! Anyone actually searched how much the hardware keyboard costed? Man! We are truly blessed generation to enjoy this on a tablet, simply amazing!

    I wanna learn how to add Wavestation SysEx data into it but I’m afraid to mess it up.

    When it came out in 1991 I bought a WS1 (1st edition ) keyboard.
    Rrp was $3699 Australian , which at the time was about 3 grand US.

    Adding WS sysex is easy . Just add the .syx files to iFunbox and use File -Import Sound Data- Original Wavestation Sysex.
    It will add a bank to (usually) User 1 .you can then save patches to ,say, User 2
    and repeat the process. Beware though that some, not many, sysex banks will occupy User 3 ( or maybe 2) which is how they are set up originally.

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